Playa+tom wrote:Last year the water used for the roads in Black Rock City came from artesan wells at Fly Geyser. It may or may not be potable, it probably has not been tested, the trucks are not approved for carrying potable water, it may be safe to consume but there are no guarantees and you may wind up with a good case of the trots for a few weeks.

Frog Pond is, I understand, owned by a private party. It may even have changed hands in the past few years. Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that in different years they make different deals with different sources of water. I'm sure it's been Frog Pond in the past.

Maybe we need too much now...

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

I've heard many times NOT to follow behind the water trucks for the purpose of cooling off with a free "shower"...the main reason given is that it is not "potable" water, or that the water sprayed is contaminated "gray" water...

Here's my question:--If it were gray or contaminated water, wouldn't it be forbidden for the trucks to dump it on the playa? Why all the rules against letting water u use to rinse your hair touch the playa, but then allowing trucks to dump gallons of dirty water on the ground?

I sense it may be more about preventing slip hazards, or avoiding divits and notches being worn away on the Playa...but is the water really unsafe to bathe in?If I kept my mouth and eyes out of the water, could it still make me sicK?

It has to do with the difference between an artificial pond used at times for watering cattle and soap. The E. coli will die fairly quickly in the dry and uv and alkaline, but the soap will still be soap.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

FeetOfClay wrote:I've heard many times NOT to follow behind the water trucks for the purpose of cooling off with a free "shower"...the main reason given is that it is not "potable" water, or that the water sprayed is contaminated "gray" water...

Here's my question:--If it were gray or contaminated water, wouldn't it be forbidden for the trucks to dump it on the playa? Why all the rules against letting water u use to rinse your hair touch the playa, but then allowing trucks to dump gallons of dirty water on the ground?

I sense it may be more about preventing slip hazards, or avoiding divits and notches being worn away on the Playa...but is the water really unsafe to bathe in?If I kept my mouth and eyes out of the water, could it still make me sicK?

It's not gray water, rather non potable due to high levels of coliform bacteria including e coli. Basically it's contaminated with feces. I'm guessing cattle.

It's basically surface or well water from an area with a lot of cattle. I'm going to guess the particulate levels aren't high enough to leave a residue on the playa and clearly none of the bacteria are going to survive a fun bake in the sun while lying on an alkaline dustbowl.

You’ve seen the trucks that drive around Black Rock City, spraying down the streets and dampening the dust, right? You’ve also seen the ‘naked marathon’... groups of people, tearing off their clothes (or not), and running behind the trucks, hoping to get cooled off by the spray. Quite a hoot, right?

Right, so let’s not do that anymore ... here’s why:

We know, it’s WATER, and we’re in the desert, and that’s amazing! But honestly, the water coming out of these vehicles isn't potable (pōtəbəl - safe to drink). It contains bacteria which could make you sick, and you certainly don’t want that, in the desert or elsewhere.

The playa gets incredibly slippery when wet, moreso than regular dirt ... over the years we’ve seen more than a few busted up faces, after folks slipped and fell against the metal bumper of the water truck (can we just say: OW).

Save your guts and your teeth, use potable water for bathing!

I always put my hand on the truck when running behind it . . . but do fish swim in it?

The latest Environmental Assessment for the 2012 permit is now out and it has some interesting info about the water source for dust suppression. The event’s identified water source is Fly Ranch in Hualapai Valley, approximately eight to 10 miles west/northwest of the event site. This source is a thermal, continually flowing artesian source; water is taken from a reservoir down-gradient from the actual surface expression. The Fly Ranch water source has been used in previous years, in accordance with water transfer certificates issued by the State water authority to Black Rock City LLC to allow for application of this water on the event site. The applicant contracts for six million gallons of water. They've done some water quality testing and found the following:

I always have morbid visions of someone slipping under a wheel? That's got to be extremely rare, if it happens at all. I'm just good at thinking up horrible accidents. One of the best, if I may say so myself.

but do fish swim in it?

I don't speak for the entire class of pisces when I say, no.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

theCryptofishist wrote:I always have morbid visions of someone slipping under a wheel? That's got to be extremely rare, if it happens at all. I'm just good at thinking up horrible accidents. One of the best, if I may say so myself.

but do fish swim in it?

I don't speak for the entire class of pisces when I say, no.

seems unlikely, since you'd have to be in front of said wheel.......and everyone I see is chasing the truck, from behind.

Some idiot might blunder in front of the truck, causing it to stop. Then someone running to catch it from behind will slip-n-slide up under the truck, get a leg in front of a wheel, and everyone hears a sickening crunch as the truck rolls over their leg.

theCryptofishist wrote:I always have morbid visions of someone slipping under a wheel? That's got to be extremely rare, if it happens at all. I'm just good at thinking up horrible accidents. One of the best, if I may say so myself.

but do fish swim in it?

I don't speak for the entire class of pisces when I say, no.

seems unlikely, since you'd have to be in front of said wheel.......and everyone I see is chasing the truck, from behind.

What do you think "extremely rare" means?

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

It's less to do with the extremely unlikely scenario of someone somehow getting their leg under the wheel of a truck than it is the fairly likely scenario that some dumbass faceplants into the tail end of the truck (or the water spigot on the back). Sadly (and hilariously too), it happens a few times a year. Someone decides to run behind the truck for a playa shower, then either has the presence of mind to keep their eyes and mouth closed to keep the water out or they learn the hard way after they get a mouthful/eyeful, then the truck slows down or stops while they don't. Dealing with these injuries can be particularly difficult because everyone's laughing their ass off at the poor bleeding fool in the street.

I wondered about the effectiveness of those trucks. It seemed like they were kicking up more dust than was being suppressed. Even the water droplets were kicking up dust as they hit the ground. Maybe if it was a finer spray, it would be better.

If we could get them to fill the trucks with beer, that would be epic!

You’ve seen the trucks that drive around Black Rock City, spraying down the streets and dampening the dust, right? You’ve also seen the ‘naked marathon’... groups of people, tearing off their clothes (or not), and running behind the trucks, hoping to get cooled off by the spray. Quite a hoot, right?

Right, so let’s not do that anymore ... here’s why:

We know, it’s WATER, and we’re in the desert, and that’s amazing! But honestly, the water coming out of these vehicles isn't potable (pōtəbəl - safe to drink). It contains bacteria which could make you sick, and you certainly don’t want that, in the desert or elsewhere.

The playa gets incredibly slippery when wet, moreso than regular dirt ... over the years we’ve seen more than a few busted up faces, after folks slipped and fell against the metal bumper of the water truck (can we just say: OW).

Save your guts and your teeth, use potable water for bathing!********************

I know, I know, you're mama told you never to drink it. See Wikipedia entry on 'Bleach'.

"A Risk Assessment Report (RAR) conducted by the European Union on sodium hypochlorite (i.e., 'household bleach') conducted under Regulation EEC 793/93 concluded that this substance is safe for the environment in all its current, normal uses.[25] This is due to its high reactivity and instability. Disappearance of hypochlorite is practically immediate in the natural aquatic environment, reaching in a short time concentration as low as 10−22 μg/L or less in all emission scenarios. In addition, it was found that while volatile chlorine species may be relevant in some indoor scenarios, they have negligible impact in open environmental conditions. Further, the role of hypochlorite pollution is assumed as negligible in soils."

I'm okay with the idea of non-potable water being non-potable. If I or my campmates do the playa shower thing it's a short run, not too close to the truck, and immediately followed by a shower in the rig we brought with us at camp.